A large-scale mural on a building in Melbourne has been taken down by the artist after the Ukraine ambassador to Australia slammed it as “utterly offensive to all Ukrainians”.
The mural in South Melbourne titled Peace Before Pieces depicted a Russian solider and Ukrainian solider hugging, which Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said showed the artist had “no clue” about the political situation.
“The painter has no clue about the RU invasion of Ukraine and it is disappointing to see it done without consulting the Ukrainian community in Melbourne,” he said in a tweet.
1/ A recently unveiled mural in @Melbourne showing a RU and a UA soldier hugging is utterly offensive to all Ukrainians. The painter has no clue about the RU invasion of Ukraine and it is disappointing to see it done without consulting the Ukrainian community in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/TCG6s7W9SJ
— Vasyl Myroshnychenko (@AmbVasyl) September 3, 2022
“The mural creates a sense of a false equivalency between the victim and the aggressor. It must be promptly removed.”
Artist Peter Seaton, who uses the name CTO, apologised for the work on Sunday and said it was intended to “promote peace”.
“I apologise heavily to the Ukrainian people if I offended them, and obviously I have, it was not my intention. My intention was to promote peace,” he said in an Instagram post.
Seaton said he worked overnight to remove the mural by 2am Monday.
Lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney Olga Boichak also shared photos of the mural and said it was deeply offensive to Ukrainians.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine is not a conflict between two nations — it is an invasion,” she tweeted.
“Such false equivalency is dangerous: it implies that peace can be achieved if both parties agreed to lay down their weapons. By now, we all have a clear idea of what would happen if Ukraine stopped fighting, so this “art” delegitimises the lived experiences of resistance.”
A new mural in Melbourne shows a Russian & a Ukrainian soldier hugging & it’s deeply offensive to all Ukrainians. Russia’s war in Ukraine is not a conflict between two nations – it is an invasion. The mural creates a sense of a false equivalency btw the victim & the aggressor 1/5 pic.twitter.com/QsU7wvu6qr
— Olga Boichak 🇺🇦 (@olgarithmic) September 3, 2022
Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations’ Stefan Romaniw told The Age the huge public outcry to remove the artwork showed Australians’ overwhelming support of Ukraine.
“We all want the war to end, but there’s an aggressor here and you can’t put the aggressor and Ukrainians who are fighting on their home soil in the same categories,” he said.
“The strongest message out of this is that Australians stand with Ukraine, and they won’t tolerate soft politics.”
